"1000
years on and humankind seems to be making the same
mistakes... it's time to set them right."

Developer: Omega
ForceDistributor: Sony

Game
Type: FightingReview Date: Jan
00

Setting
the Scene:

Unlike any other fighting game on
the market today, Destrega allows characters to move freely within its
3D environments, thus allowing for both close and long range fighting.

The usual physical attacks are accompanied by a multitude of
sensational, long-range magical attacks and contribute to a very
fast-paced action/fighting title.

Two players can battle it out in a true 3D environment. Players are
free to move anywhere within stages. It's a new system for people who
are tired of 2D or semi 3D fighting games.

Destrega was conceived, designed, and developed by Omega Force, the
same in-house development team responsible for last year's immensely
popular Dynasty Warriors.

The
Story Begins...

.... over a 1000 years ago when the
Strega suddenly appeared in Zamu'el, a small country located on the edge
of the continent. These Strega possessed mysterious powers, and so they
were revered and respected by the men and women of Zamu'el.

Aside
from their mysterious powers, the Strega also possessed knowledge far
more advanced than that of Zamu'el, in such fields as metallurgy and
agriculture. The Strega gladly passed this knowledge on to the
inhabitants of Zamu'el, transforming the once poor country into a
prosperous nation. Furthermore, the Strega, in their kindness, created
objects that would allow normal humans to control powers similar to
their own and bestowed them upon the people.

Many of these objects, called Jeno at the time, were made and presented
to the populace of Zamu'el. As the people learned to use the Jeno, they
began to extend their borders into neighboring lands. With their new
powers, they felt invincible, and failed to listen to the warning of the
Strega whom they had once revered as gods. In just a short 10 years,
Zamu'el had conquered the entire continent.

However,
even as they destroyed the last of their enemies, their mighty Empire
began to crumble. Greedy, ambitious men rebelled throughout the land -
each rebellion fought by Jeno bearers. The Jeno War, as it was
eventually called, unleashed unimaginable destruction upon the land and
its people. The very continent they had fought to win, was nothing more
than a wasteland of disease and death by the time the fighting ended. In
addition, the devastating power of the Jeno vanished, making the objects
nothing more than fancy trinkets.

Through the following millennium, the continent struggled desperately
to return to the golden age of prosperity it enjoyed before the Jeno
War. The bitter memories of destruction and death slowly faded from the
minds of men; until in the small country of Ipsen, the objects (called
Relics now) hereunto only mentioned in ancient tomes, were uncovered at
site of ruins from the Zamu'el period. After learning from his scholars
that the owner of these objects could weld great power, Emperor Olysis
began secret excavations at all the known ruins of the Zamu'el period.
In addition, he ordered Sir Zauber, the man who uncovered the first
Relic, to begin training a corps of Relic bearers.

Upon
learning that the devastating power of the Relics had been restored, the
descendants of the Strega visited the Emperor and pleaded with him not
to use the Relics. The Emperor responded by declaring war on the Strega.
In the ensuing battle, most of the Imperial family, a great number of
high-ranking ministers, and many Strega were killed.

Almost immediately, the other lords and barons began vying for power,
but the contest was a short one. Using the recently restored power of
the Relics, Zauber easily crushed any opposition. Having seized control,
he appointed himself Prime Minister and began eliminating anyone who
posed a potential threat. Fearing that the Strega would try once again
to seal off the power of the Relics, Zauber began to systematically hunt
down any survivors...

Sound
and Vision:

Before
describing the visual appearance of Destrega it's worth pointing out
that this isn't your usual 3D Beat-em-up. In the Tekken's, Bio
Freak's and Bloody Roar's of this world the two selected characters may
have the ability to twist and turn a full 360° during battle, but
you couldn't exactly say that they get up and roam around the entire
level. They may be able to back-off and block,
but they certainly couldn't run away. Nor can they jump up to higher
platforms to dodge an incoming attack. Destrega fighters can!

Take a bunch of characters who bare many similarities to those seen in
Soul Blade. Up the resolution to the dizzy heights only previously seen
in Koei's Dynasty Warriors. Now drop these scrumptious fighters into a
small themed level (somewhere between the size of Bushido Blade and
Cardinal Syn), arm them to the teeth with a selection of magical forces,
and... Wham!.. This game smacks you right between the eyes.

As
soon as the first battle loads up that you will become momentarily
stunned. Not because your opponent has immediately zapped you with a
miniature nuclear explosion, but by the stunning quality of the high
resolution graphics. Each fighters facial features are clearly
defined giving you the impression that you are controlling a person
rather than a blob of colored polygons. Each character has their own
style of battle-dress and it's amazing how elaborately detailed their
garments appear, although quite tasteless in some cases.

Of course the effects from the wide range of weapons play a major role
in Destrega's visual content. Each character has their own personalized
firepower, and boy do these contests get heated. There's so much energy
flying around when a battle get's into full flow it could easily be
confused with a laser light show.

The
camera angle always manages to capture the action perfectly. When the
fighters are near each other the view zooms in up close. When
they spread wide apart it retreats quickly, always keeping both
contestants visible on the screen. The sound and music, however, are
strictly average.

The themed levels have been constructed entirely from polygons with
only the occasional joint being visible. They have obviously been
designed to compliment the gameplay as there are many obstacles to
shelter behind, ditches to jump into and higher platforms to scale.
Themes include out on a open hillside, around a canyon, in a cave,
around castles and even within a small hamlet. It's all very tidy and
pleasing to the eye.